Paradox Interactive AB

Moby ID: 1920

AKA +
  • Paradox Entertainment AB (from 1999-11 to 2004-12)
  • Target Games Interactive AB (from 1997 to 1999-11)

Overview edit · view history

Founded in the early-to-mid 1980s, Target Games AB was a gaming company located in Stockholm, Sweden. Until the mid 1990s, the company developed roleplaying board games and published them under the brand name Äventyrsspel (meaning "adventure games"). The most well-known of their board games were: Warzone (cyberpunk war game, 1995), Kult (contemporary fantasy horror game, 1991) and Chronopia (dark fantasy war game). The company also produced a line of resin miniatures and terrain items to accompany their tabletop games.

They divided their line of products into 3 major areas:

Adventure: miniature and roleplaying board games

Interactive: all entertainment software

Prins August: all family games and toy candy

Video games released by Target Games included Svea Rike (1997) and its sequel Svea Rike 2 (1999).

Target Games' known divisions were:

  • Target Games AB
  • Target Games Interactive AB (Video Games Division)
  • Target Games Adventure AB (board game accessories) with the subdivisions
    • Target Games UK
    • Target Games US
    • Target Games Eire

In late 1999, Target Games went into bankruptcy proceedings, sold off its interactive division (computer games) to form Paradox Entertainment AB, then sold its adventure gaming division (miniatures) to Paradox. The Target company principals kept ownership of the intellectual property, licensing some to Paradox.

In January 2000, all of the company stock of Paradox Entertainment AB was sold in a major buy-out by external investors and former management members Fredrik Malmberg and Nils Gulliksson, who became its Chief Executive Officer. All of the Target Games divisions and branches were closed or acquired, and Paradox Entertainment AB became the new company name.

Paradox Entertainment AB developed and published games for four years between 2000 and 2004. Released titles included:

In November 2001, Paradox Entertainment formed Point Blank Development, an independent company to handle game development based on the acclaimed Valpurgius 3D technology and new gameplay innovations. Paradox Entertainment was the major stockholder of this new company.

In November 2004, the entire interactive branch was sold to Theodore Bergquist, the current CEO of the company. Bergquist named his new company Paradox Interactive AB. The deal included all of the previous video games and everything currently in production. Paradox Entertainment AB, still lead by CEO Fredrik Malmberg, left the gaming industry entirely and diverted its interests to developing and licensing character-based properties including Conan, stories by pulp author Robert E. Howard and others. Through its subsidiary in Los Angeles, California, (Paradox Entertainment Inc.), it was developing several major motion pictures. In May 2015, it was acquired by Malmberg's company Cabinet Entertainment. While Cabinet continued to hold the IP business, Paradox Entertainment was renamed to Sensori AB and sold medical supplies.

The first game to be released under the Paradox Interactive AB banner was Hearts of Iron II. Many other titles have been developed and produced by the company, many of which were sequels to older Paradox Entertainment games and were still supported by the new company. Paradox Interactive AB's headquarters remain in Stockholm, Sweden.

In 2006 the company announced to refocus their efforts into publishing rather than developing games. An additional office was opened in New York City and, in April 2006, their GamersGate AB distribution portal was launched.

Once that really started to grow, the company was split once again. Since January 2012, Paradox Interactive is the game publisher and Paradox Development Studio that focus on game development. In 2022, the company launched the Paradox Arc label for externally developed games.

Known Paradox Interactive studios

Names in italics used to be subsidiaries, but no longer are as they were closed or sold off.

Credited on 244 Games from 1997 to 2024

Displaying most recent · View all

Millennia (2024 on Windows)
Nexus 5X (2023 on Windows)
Cities: Skylines II (2023 on Windows, Windows Apps)
Cities: Skylines II - Ultimate Edition (2023 on Windows Apps, Windows)
Star Trek: Infinite (2023 on Windows, Macintosh)
Star Trek: Infinite (Digital Deluxe Edition) (2023 on Macintosh, Windows)
The Lamplighters League (2023 on Windows, Windows Apps, Xbox Series)
Mechabellum (2023 on Windows)
Age of Wonders 4 (2023 on Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series...)
Age of Wonders 4: Expansion Pass (2023 on Windows, Windows Apps, PlayStation 5...)
Age of Wonders 4: Premium Edition (2023 on Windows, Windows Apps, PlayStation 5...)
Ghost Signal: A Stellaris Game (2023 on Quest, PlayStation 5, Windows)
Knights of Pen & Paper 3 (2023 on Windows)
Surviving the Abyss (2023 on Windows)
Victoria 3 (2022 on Linux, Windows, Macintosh)
Airport Simulator: First Class (2022 on iPhone, iPad, Android)
Stardeus (2022 on Windows, Linux, Macintosh)
Across the Obelisk (2022 on Linux, Windows, Macintosh)
Cities: Skylines - Stadia Edition (2022 on Stadia)
Vampire: The Masquerade - Heartless Lullaby (2022 on Windows)

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History +

June 30, 2017

Company acquires Triumph Studios B.V..

December 17, 2009

The company announces to have acquired AGE Studio along with the division AGEOD Sarl.

February 12, 2009

The company launches the publishing label Mezmer Games.

February 1, 2007

The company cancels the strategy game Heart of Empire: Rome by Deep Red Games.

April 28, 2006

Paradox Interactive opens GamersGate.net, a download portal for PC games.

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Trivia +

Contact Info (2006):

Paradox Interactive AB

Hitechbuilding

SE-10152 Stockholm

SWEDEN

Phone: +46 8 566 148 00

Fax: +46 8 566 148 00

Related Web Sites +

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